No stars but Brumbies punch above with White

John Eales -Mar 19, 2012

Liam Messam of the Chiefs grabs Leon Power of the Brumbies in the lineout. Photo: Getty Images

Through initiatives like Will Anderson's television program, The Gruen Transfer, advertising has become the entertainment rather than just the annoying interlude. In the Super Bowl, with its huge audience and the most expensive advertising real-estate on the planet, much of the pre- and post-match talk is about the ads, how much they cost and how entertaining they are.

Some of Budweiser's ads for the Super Bowl have been outstanding, as have VB's Flashdance parody and “the Regulars”, featuring various groups of everyday Aussies parading their way to the pub. Among those marching are, “Men who won't eat quiche”, “Guys who peaked in high school”, and my favourite, “Blokes punching above their weight”.

A few of us who can relate to that group: Cars lead singer Ric Ocasek with supermodel Paulina Porizkova; former England rugby captain Mike Tindall, who is married to the Queen's grand-daughter Zara Phillips; and Damian Eales and his wife Tara.

The first four rounds of this year's Super Rugby season have also offered a few teams punching above their weight–but also a few that have underperformed. Highlanders, Brumbies and Hurricanes jerseys would not be out of place under the banner of those punching above their weight. Likewise,Western Force's vital, injury-ravaged and debutant-stacked one-point win over the Waratahs on Saturday would earn their stripes; it may not have been as significant as Sachin Tendulkar's 100th international century but, in context, it was a lot more important.

Although the Brumbies were beaten 29-22 by the Chiefs on Friday, they matched their more fancied opponents throughout a taxing encounter, finally going down to a try in the dying minutes. So how much of their hardy start to the season can be attributed to the Jake White coaching effect? Undoubtedly, White's experience brings confidence to a team and confidence is often the antecedent to performance. He also brings management and technical proficiency, which enabled him to inspire a World Cup victory in 2007.

In addition, we know that although his reign as Brumbies head coach wasn't successful, Laurie Fisher is considered to be astute in the technical requirements of forward play.

But there is something else missing from the Brumbies campaign this year–expectation. And expectations can be crippling. Last year, the Brumbies had a higher-profile roster, replete with great players like Matt Giteau, Adam Ashley-Cooper and Rocky Elsom (who played only one game), yet they floundered. And therein lies a riddle–no team has won a Super Rugby tournament without great players, yet great players are no guarantee of great performance; paradoxically, they can even hinder.

Sometimes when you have one or two great players, you can rely on them too often and marginalise the potential of the others. If you have a lot of great players, the sense of responsibility or accountability may disperse and even disappear.

But sometimes, when you have none, everyone is fighting for their lives and the existence of the team.

Although the Brumbies have some notable talent, particularly in their front row which boasts Stephen Moore and Ben Alexander, at present they more closely resemble a team fighting for its existence, and a coach can do a lot with that.

As heartened as Brumbies supporters may be, their Waratah counterparts are agitated. The greatest frustration of sport is unrequited talent and many would view theWaratahs' start to the season as such. At this early stage, I consider that a harsh judgment, as this season has the ingredients to be the tightest yet, where close games are the norm, not the exception. In fact, of the 27 games to date, about 70 per cent have been within seven points and 30 per cent have had less than a two-point margin. That's indicative of a very even competition.

Waratahs coachMichael Foley, and others in his cohort like the Blues' Pat Lam, would hope to start falling on the right side of statistics and grasp at the fact that it is early days and finalists are not determined in March. But worryingly, it may be the time when seasonal trends are set.

Another group marching in the VB ad is the neck-braced, crutch-wielding 'Men who should have read the instructions'. Perhaps there should be an instruction manual issued to all coaching aspirants, forewarning of the latent and not so latent perils that await.

But I doubt it would make any difference anyway as, being blokes, they probably wouldn't read it.